Rotimi Amaechi, immediate past governor of Rivers state, has again raised alarm over alleged plot of Nyesom Wike, his successor, to tarnish his reputation.
Amaechi urged the people of Rivers, who he said are aware of his anti-corruption stance to defend him, saying Wike is desperate to make sure that he does not get any appointment in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was speaking in Abuja late Sunday during a reception that his friends organised in his honour.
“Governor Nyesome Wike has again sponsored one advert in a bid to rubbish me. Only God knows that if there is one thing I don’t like, I don’t like money,” he said.
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“Anybody close to me knows that I don’t like money. The governor and PDP are afraid of me getting an appointment to the national executive council.
“The current president abhors corruption and the only way they can stop me from getting the appointment is to paint me with corruption. And the people that know me in Rivers State know that I don’t like money. In Rivers, people know I don’t like money.”
Aisha Buhari, wife of the president, commended Amaechi, saying his courage contributed to the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the general election.
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She said: “Amaechi stood firmly by the party, showed commitment, courage and patriotism in ensuring that the country attained the positive change it was yearning for.
“The director-general of the APC campaign organisation is an epitome of doggedness, toughness and steadfastness.”
On his part, Yemi Osinbajo, the vice-president, described Amaechi as “a man of tremendous courage, who stood the wrongs in the PDP, even when he was a member of the Party”.
He said that Amaechi’s role in the last election, stood out, and that accounted for why he was being celebrated.
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“One thing I personally admire about him is his forthrightness; his ability to say it like it is, and we have never been in doubt about where he stands on any issue at all,” he said.
“He has the capacity for the big ideas. Any state governor that will build a railway is a man of big ideas.”
Osinbajo said that Amaechi’s education policy as governor in Rivers had given new hope to children, adding that he would not only be remembered by these children but also by generations to come.
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